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JED-FOREST R.F.C |
Riverside Park |
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Jedburgh |
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TD8 6UE |
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01835 862232 |
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2002-03 Reports Sat 4th May Boroughmuir 21-25 Jed-Forest For the Scotsman match report click here.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Sat 5th Apr Jed-Forest 23-28 Hawick Sorry no match report this week. But here is the player of the day results.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________ Sat 29th Mar Melrose 40-20 Jed-Forest Sorry no match report this week. But here is the player of the day results.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________ Sat 22nd Mar Boroughmuir 38-34 Jed-Forest Sorry no match report this week. But here is the player of the day results.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________ Sat 15th Mar Jed-forest 34-32 Stirling County Sorry no match report this week. But here is the player of the day results.
_________________________________________________________________________Sun 9th Mar Hawick 14-30 Jed-forestSorry no match report this week. But here is the player of the day results.
_________________________________________________________________________Sat 1st Mar Jed-Forest 41 - 7 CurrieSorry no match report this week. But here is the player of the day results.
________________________________________________________________________________________ Sat 22nd Feb Jed-Forest 20 - 38 Glasgow HawksEven a superb performance in his first return to the Jed No 9 shirt since turning pro from local hero Gary Armstrong couldn’t prevent Jed losing in a game that epitomized how many matches have gone for Jed this season. Huge amounts of effort with little reward and a lack of a cutting edge to get through organised defences such as Glasgow Hawks, which has to be praised after having to work hard as Jed pressed for long periods of the game. Jed started the match superbly, controlling possession for long spells before eventually creating an overlap for Gary Hill to score his first try of the season. Gary McGarva converted and also added a couple of penalties to give Jed a lead after 20 minutes of 13-3 . Hawks then came to life after their slow start and scored a breakaway try which was converted, a penalty allowed them to go into half time level at 13-13. The second half saw Hawks take the lead with a fairly soft score but Jed responded almost immediately when good driving from the pack took Jed close to the Hawks line and when they were awarded a penalty nobody could match the reactions of Armstrong when he took a quick tap and dived under the defence in a flash. McGarva added the conversion to restore the Jed lead at 20-18. The next score was always going to be crucial and unfortunately for Jed it was Hawks who managed to secure it, a conversion and penalty took them clear at 28-20. Jed made a lot of substitutions around this period and lost their shape for a bit and when Hawks crossed for another score they looked to have wrapped up the game. Jed however had other ideas and surges from Ward, Hendy and Armstrong took Jed close to the Hawks line. Gary Hill looked to be in for his second try but was held up when a pass to Lightbody would have produced a score. Jed still battled away and Hawks were reduced to 14 men for persistent infringements, although Jed were having their own problems with injuries as Neil Cook was taken off after a bad head knock that required a visit to the BGH although he was back the clubrooms later on with a top lip that didn’t give Mick Jagger a look in. Armstrong also retired with a knee injury although nothing too serious. As Jed pressed for an elusive third try Hawks stole possession and broke down the field for a try in the corner which should never have been awarded after a fine tackle back from Jon Steel saw the ball go loose over the line. That was the last action of the match and sets Hawks up well for the IT cup after humping Melrose by 50 points the previous week. As well as Armstrong superb battling display Jed were well served up front by both props Ward and Henderson and as usual Davie Forster got through a power of work. Jed have no fixture next Saturday at the moment but are becoming very short of forward cover with Charles Grobbler away home and with Neil Cook out for another 3 weeks as well as long term injury victim John Szkudro as well as Hotson and Lee also injured at the moment Jed resources are being tested.Jed stalwarts Kevin Liddle and Gary Armstrong line up for Kick Off
_______________________________________________________________________Sat 8th Feb Gala 17 - 33 Jed-ForestSorry no match report this week. But here is the player of the day results.
___________________________________________________________________Sat 1st Feb Heriots 34 - 6 Jed-ForestSorry no match report this week. But here is the player of the day results.
____________________________________________________________________Sat 25th Jan Peebles 3 - 0 Jed-ForestThe low scoreline reflects both how little there was between the teams and also how bad the conditions were. In fact if the shower during the first half had lasted much longer it would be getting close to being abandoned. The disastrous result was further compounded when news filtered through of Stirling winning with a bonus point to leave us in deep trouble at the foot of the table , Jimmy Rose Jr in fact quoting a price of 4-1 ON for relegation on Saturday evening. Peebles won the toss and decided to play into the elements in the first half and had the better of the play with their forwards driving well and Scott Nicol clearing his lines well when required. Jed had only one attempt at goal early on when Gary McGarva only just missed from half way. Jed were struggling to retain posession especially at the line outs with Beige having real difficulty with his throw ins and on the occasions he did find the jumpers they were having problems securing it. A horrendous shower for about 5-10 minutes before half time made it almost impossible to create anything but a Jed back move involving Laing and Hill gave McBride the space to round his winger but may have faired better having a go at the full back than his attempted chip which skidded into touch with the line beckoning. It was always going to be tough in the second half to stop Peebles scoring and when Nicol put over a close range penalty the writing was on the wall. However Jed battled hard to drive into the Peebles half and put in some good periods of driving forward play with Ward, Lee and Liddle carrying the ball well but never produced a real scoring chance. Peebles went close a couple of times with penalty attempts but failed to add to their lead and it was Peebles who were to celebrate when the ref blew for full time. The day got even worse for Jed when they discovered Stirling had picked up 5pts in their win over Melrose and Currie 3pts in a high scoring draw at Aberdeen. With only two league games remaining Hawick at home and Boroughmuir away it is not looking too good for Jed. Hopefully there wont be too many players down with the flu after Saturdays match as we have the cup game against the high flying Heriots to look forward to this week.
Sat 18th Jan Jed-Forest 26 - 17 Stirling CountyJed secured a crucial home victory with a fine performance in this Premiership basement battle. Amazingly for the fifth time this season Jed have beaten a team at Riverside whilst conceding over 40 points in the away fixture, something seriously wrong there! Stirling started the match well and with the wind behind them took a 6-0 early lead through a penalty and a close range drop goal, then after a fine long range breakout only some desperate defending from Simon Lightbody and Neil Cook prevented them from going further ahead. Then Jed took control of the match and were rewarded when Amos struck a good penalty after McGarva had missed an earlier one and felt this attempt was out of his range. With the Jed line-out working well a superb drive from about 30 metres out almost produced a try and when the ball was recycled Goodfellow tried to go himself when using the clear overlap would almost certainly have yielded a score. However Jed battled back towards the Stirling line and Nod Laing darted in under the sticks from close range to allow McGarva to extend the lead to 10-6 which was how it remained at the break. Neither side really dominated the early exchanges in the second half but traded two penalties each to take the score to 16-12 then when Amos fielded an attempted clearance from the Stirling goal-line, he was about 45 metres out with little on he slammed over a mighty drop goal that sailed between the uprights and give Jed a lead that looked like taking the points. As is now customary at Riverside the crowd were ensured a nervous end to the match when Stirling broke up to the Jed try-line and were awarded a scrum 5 and almost managed a pushover, then in one of the lighter moments of the day as Beige returned to the fray after recovering from a painful injury to the "John Dawes", the announcer said that Brown was returning in place of Kevin Liddle who has retired, "Aboot time tae" was the sharp reply from the stand. Jed then managed to push Stirling back and see off the initial challenge, but they responded and came back on the attack this time swinging the ball wide after being denied up the middle, their winger squeezed in at the corner leaving a difficult conversion to tie the match. In front off some fine heckling from the kop, the kick only just missed leaving Jed with a 19-17 lead with only injury time to go. Jed hassled Stirling into a mistake in their own half and were awarded a penalty, with a lot of the crowd shouting for the kick at goal, Jed opted for the line out drive. Hotson secured possession as he had done all match and with a mighty drive from the pack Davie Forster grabbed the all important score. Then with the last kick of the match a fine conversion denied Stirling a bonus point which could be very crucial at the end of the season. All in all a very satisfying day for Jed especially when they were without the services of their inspirational captain Mark Lee who was on duty for the Borders the previous evening. There were some fine performances all round but the ball carrying of the two props Jarrod Ward and James "Mr February" Henderson layed the platform for team to work around. Another huge match next week against Peebles, a team we are long overdue a win against, hopefully a large travelling support can inspire Jed to the victory needed to hopefully stay up.
Sat 28th Dec Kelso 14 - 23 Jed-Forest Sorry no match report due to the festivities, but here is the player of the day points.
___________________________________________________________________________ Sat 14th Dec Cartha Queens Park 13 - 32 Jed-Forest This always looked like being a dangerous game for Jed when they traveled to Glasgow at the weekend to take on this National Div 1 side who had taken the scalp of Premier 3 leaders, Dundee, in the previous round. With a full squad though Jed hoped to put their horrendous away game form to rights, and claim their first win on the road this season. Jed opened the match brightly enough but failed to score many points, only a McGarva penalty after missing with an easier effort. The lead was short lived as Cartha started to put some good moves together, and when their pacy full-back stepped of the touchline he left a trail of unsuccessful tacklers in his wake to touch down under the posts. They followed this up with a penalty to give them a 10-3 lead and a confidence that an upset was most definitely on the cards! They were then unlucky when a kick and chase almost brought a further score but for some desperate work in the in-goal area from Ross Goody. Jed then got a grip of themselves and managed another penalty, and when some good driving play saw them stopped over the line, but a great chance was lost when the Cartha pack put in a huge effort and drove Jed off the ball from the resultant scrum Cartha then extended their lead just before the break when a penalty took it to 13-6 in favour of the home side. The pressure was most definitely on, but Jed responded well and set about dominating possession in the second half, and once they started trying to play some phases rather than trying to score of first phase ball all the time, things started to go better. McGarva kept the scoreboard ticking with a string of penalties to give Jed the lead back with about 15 minutes to go at 15-13, credit must go to our captain for resisting the temptation to go lineout drives, when the penalties were on offer, because it was a huge psychological blow for home side to lose the lead after having it for so long. Then almost straight away after another concerted effort with good drives from Ward , Grobler and Hotson the ball was spun wide for Lightbody to finish off and when the conversion went over the game was effectively won for Jed at 21-13. Jed kept the pressure on though and added further points from a McGarva penalty before the pack gained revenge by pushing Cartha off a ball, and eventually claiming another try when Lightbody scored following a fine mazy run. So eventually mission accomplished but all credit to Cartha for a fine spirited performance and for some good old hospitality in their busy clubrooms, with a special mention to their front row for a good afternoon.
_______________________________________________________Sat 7th Dec
Melrose 41 - 20
Jed-Forest
For the second consecutive week Jed’s defensive frailties were highlighted when they leaked another forty points. In truth it was a much-improved showing from the previous weekend but yet again failed to break their duck away from home, and have yet to win even a bonus point on our travels. Before I go any further a special mention must go to our Mickey Mouse management for selecting a replacement who had made himself unavailable for selection this week, but our management only discovered their cock up as the bus was about to leave, this left us with 2 props covering the forward pack, a cock up that was to prove very costly when Davie Forster limped off in the first half. Anyway enough of these jokers or I’ll not get this report finished, after weathering early Melrose pressure Jed put on some sustained attacks in the Melrose 22’ which eventually saw McGarva latch onto Amos’s speculative inside pass, he also added the conversion for a 7-0 lead. This was short lived as Jed made a hash of the restart, a weakness all day, and Melrose replied with a converted try after their pack had driven over the Jed line. The rest of the half was end to end stuff with both sides creating plenty of chances, Melrose added 2 more tries while Jed added a penalty, a try from Davie Forster after good work from the pack and a drop goal just before half time from Amos to give Jed a deserved 20-19 lead at the break. The second started in much the same fashion with Jed driving at Melrose but often knocking on or being turned over at crucial times, eventually Melrose broke away with Caldwell finishing off a backs move that started well in their own half. At 20-24 Jed were still in it but could not find the crucial next score and seemed to panic when they got into the Melrose 22’, but a hammer blow was soon to follow when Melrose hacked the ball up field for about 60 metres before touching down under the posts. Jed’s chances were not helped with Hendy being sin binned for vigorous rucking and then being followed to the sin bin by South African Charlie Grobler for punching. Jed still tried desperately to get back into the match but just couldn’t produce enough composure to score the points that their territorial dominance of the second half merited. Eventually Jed were exposed again deep into injury time when Melrose added a converted try for a flattering 41-20 victory. Plus points for Jed had to be the line-out play where after a bit help on Thursday night at training from Borders hooker Stevie Scott, the moves looked much sharper and produced an abundance of good ball that could have been used to better effect. The big thing to sort out next is the defence, we simply can’t win games leaking tries like this. Hopefully the Cup match this weekend will help restore some confidence although by all accounts this team are no mugs, as Dundee will vouch for.
____________________________________________________________________________Sat
30th Nov
Aberdeen GSFP 40 - 18
Jed-Forest
Another dismal away performance from Jed against a side who were very beatable despite us making a nightmare start to the match. On a dreary day in Aberdeen the conditions were never going to make for much running rugby, but with the Jed side showing a pathetic lack of appetite in the tackle Aberdeen were able to play plenty running rugby in the early stages. They took an early lead when their stand off slotted an early penalty, this was to set the tone as he controlled the game in the first half slotting his kicks and sending Jed deep into their own half with a series of raking punts. Worse was to come for Jed when chronic tackling in the backline allowed Aberdeen to run in a couple of tries and along with a penalty and conversion all of a sudden it was 18-0 with only 20 minutes gone. To their credit the Jed side started to show a bit fight and stopped it turning into a totally one sided contest some good driving play resulted in the ball being worked wide for Yuille to stroll in at the corner. Again Aberdeen forced play deep in the Jed half and when Amos got into difficulty trying to run out of defence they were able to turn over the ball and increase the lead to 23-5. Jed then had most of the play and were unlucky when they were penalised when going for a lineout drive, a McGarva penalty reduced the deficit but Aberdeen hut back just before half time when the full back chipped ahead and was impeded by Beige who was sin binned for his efforts, leaving Jed trailing 26 – 8 at the interval. With conditions in their favour now Jed had the chance to get Aberdeen pinned back into their own half but it seemed to take a while before they established control. Jed were now back up to 15 men when they had a series of attacking scrums that allowed Ross Goody to slide over in a blindside move the conversion reduced the lead to 26-15 and back in the game. More pressure from close range scrums seen Jed awarded another penalty which made it 26-18 and found themselves again on the attack with the Aberdeen defence scrambling it looked as though a Jed try could see them crack, and as Jed moved the ball wide it looked as though Ross Ford was going to grab the score but some desperate defence stopped him just short, Aberdeen stole the ball and broke blind from their own line and with Jed short of cover the counter attack led to them going the whole length for their full back to touchdown under the posts and kill off the Jed fightback. With the stuffing knocked out of the visitors they countered again with their full back Seib who looked a class act all day rounding off a fine display when he broke through at the final whistle to again score under the posts to complete a terrible afternoon for Jed, which actually got worse when they realised Currie and Peebles had both won.
_____________________________________________________________Sat 23rd Nov Jed-Forest 19 - 23 Heriots F.P.So near yet so far, yet again!! Although to be fair Heriots were by far the more dangerous looking side for most of the match but the determination / desperation shown by the Jed side especially in the final quarter could have earned a desperately needed 4 points against one of the top club sides in the country. Jed weathered some early pressure and were first to score when Amos slotted a couple of penalties to give an early lead which Heriots responded to with a couple of tries and could have had another in same corner after some slick passing only to find their wing man standing in touch when he received what could have been a scoring pass. Jed rallied before half time but were only able to add a third Amos penalty to leave the score 10 - 9 in Heriots favour at the break. Jed then upped the tempo at the start of the second and took the lead when Amos added another penalty, the lead was short lived as Heriots came straight back at Jed and slotted a close range drop goal to regain the advantage. Then came the crucial points of the game when Jed again failed to secure line-out possession, which was to prove their weakness all day, the ball bounced about loose in the middle of the park and Heriots hacked the ball towards the Jed posts, Daniel Yuille looked to have saved the situation but the ball spilled out and gave Heriots a very soft score to go ahead 20 - 12. Jed were certainly not about to throw in the towel and pressured Heriots back into their own 22, Amos missed the chance to reduce the deficit with a penalty, but Jed stayed on the attack and after Mark Lee was stopped just short Goody fed out for Beige to crash over from short range, Amos added the conversion to bring it back to 19 - 20. Jed then shot themselves in the foot by trying to run out of their own 22 from the restart and were penalised for holding on allowing Heriots to gain a 4 point advantage at 23 - 19 with around 10 minutes left. Jed hassled and harried their opponents with tempers becoming short but unable to put enough control on the game although were unlucky when a set move saw Yuille break the first line defence but the scoring pass to Amos was judged to be forward. In the end another disappointing result but a much improved performance from the previous outing to Currie, the bonus point takes us level with Stirling and 4 clear of Peebles, who meet at The Gytes next week so we must take something from our trip to Aberdeen next weekend. There will have to be some serious work done on the line out before next Saturday but if the same level of commitment is shown then hopefully we can get a result. Our new second row Charles Grobler did some fine work and the return of Gary Hill helped in midfield but we will be without Clark Laidlaw who is back on Borders duty next week and fellow pro is also doubtful after coming off with a knee injury.
_____________________________________________________________________Fri 8th Nov Jed-Forest 19 - 15 Glasgow HawksJed produced a much improved performance in front of one of the largest and certainly the most vocal crowd of the season so far. A special mention must go to a certain "Hudson Hawk" who visitors to the SRU chat room will be aware off, and had the cheek to slag our report on the early season fixture when we commented that the Hawks were a very beatable side, despite us suffering a heavy defeat after a disastrous last 10 minutes. Well to quote a famous Norwegian commentator " Hudson Hawk your boys took a HELLLL of a BEATING". OK they could have won the match at the death but that would have been a travesty, but that is not unusual to Jed matches this season where we have snatched defeat from the jaws of victory on many occasions. The Jed pack laid the foundation for the victory with some fine driving play in the loose and were well assisted by some direct running from Shaw in the centre which helped them continually make the gain line. Jed started the game well with an early McGarva penalty this was quickly cancelled out by Hawks, but Jed continued to edge ahead through the boot of McGarva taking Jed into a 12 - 6 half time lead, despite making several good breaks through Lee and Lightbody. Jed had to defend hard at the start of the second half which resulted in Hawks reducing the deficit to 12 - 9 . Jed then produced some sustained pressure on the Hawks and a chip into the corner from McGarva allowed Karl McBride to show his pace and gain the touchdown in the corner. McGarva added the conversion from the touchline which was to prove crucial in the end. Jed continued to attack and hassle the Hawks who were starting to have difficulty clearing their lines in front of a very vocal support on "The Kop". Just as things seemed to be going Jeds' way a run of injuries with around 20 minutes to go seemed to unsettle the Jed rhythm, losing Beige, Ross Ford and Hendy in quick succession. Hawks started to finally get to grip with the game which would have taken them into second place had they won, a penalty reduced the lead to 19-15 and they were looking for a try at the death but Neil Cook stole a line out to allow Jed to clear their lines. A special mention must go to James Henderson who after a difficult day when his boss, and former Jed captain Bill Dodds was buried, produced his best game for a long time, taking the ball on on countless occasions which seemed to inspire the Jed pack. The result takes Jed off the bottom of the table but there is still plenty of work to do, starting again at Currie next Sunday.
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Sat 26th Oct Jed-Forest 9 - 10 Peebles The
scoreline suggests a tense, nervy affair which was exactly how this Premiership
relegation battle turned out, unfortunately for Jed though they couldn't break
their losing streak which is now extended to 4 matches and has us in deep
trouble at the foot of the table at the half way stage of the league campaign.
Peebles started well and had Jed cover stretched on
several occasions early on, however the Jed defence stood up well and held them
out. More importantly they took the lead through two McGarva penalties but then
lost a fairly simple try when Walker strolled in at the corner with Jed short of
defenders. This was how the first half finished 6-5 to Jed and with the wind
advantage in the second half they must have fancied their chances of extending
the lead. However in true Jed fashion they failed to do the basics
and clear their lines early in the second half, allowing them to set up a good
scoring opportunity which was taken following some good handling to put them
10-6 ahead. Jed tried to respond but all they could muster was a few
penalty attempts with McGarva slotting 1 and missing 1. As the game wore on it
became apparent that both teams were struggling to add to the scoring so when
Jed one a penalty close to the posts it looked as though this could be the
clincher they desperately needed, amazingly McGarva missed the simple chance.
With Steven Shaw on for Scott Laidlaw he started to give Jed a much needed
attacking force in the middle but Peebles were still holding firm, when a pass
out the tackle from Beige released Lightbody up the middle he was stopped just
short of the posts and in the desperate ruck that followed it was Jed who were
unluckily penalised and their final chance was gone. This leaves Jed with much to do in the second part of the
campaign, but with only 4 home games left it is going to be very tricky on the
other hand they have been very unlucky not to have claimed a few more points
which could have seen us in the top half of the table.
____________________________________________________________ Sat 19th Oct Jed-Forest 10 - 43 Stirling CountyThis was a shocking performance from Jed, by far the worst performance of the season so far and hopefully the remainder of the season. With other results also going against us we slip to 9th in the table and a match against bottom side Peebles on Saturday to come, takes on huge significance for the survival of both clubs. In superb conditions Stirling started well, finding holes in a very hesitant Jed defence, it wasn't long in to the game before they found their first try when the scrum half broke through and give an easy scoring chance to one of their back row. With Jed again finding themselves busy in defence they lost hooker Beige with an ankle injury. Stirling continued to apply pressure in all phases of play and were rewarded with a further two converted tries against a solitary McGarva penalty to give them a commanding and fully deserved 21-3 lead at half time. Gary Hill was replaced just before half time with a knee problem and midway through the second half Amos limped off with a pulled calf muscle. As Jed continually failed to keep possession for any length of time, constantly being turned over with some inept rucking, Stirling continued to run in the tries, another 3 tries made it 36-3 before Mark Lee crossed for a thoroughly deserved try for his individual effort, he was badly let down by his team-mates who will have to give themselves a good shake before playing Peebles next week, if they are selected !. There was still time for the day to get worse though when Davie Forster had to leave the field with a neck injury, and enough time for Stirling to add a 7th try. It has to be said though for all Jed were so bad, this was quite a useful Stirling side, especially up front with Edinburgh pro's Hogg and Kellock in fine form and former Glasgow pro Flockart doing a lot off damage which gave an easy ride to their scrum half who has also been in the Edinburgh side at times this season. If they continue to field this side they will win more games than they lose. Jed must now turn their full attention to Peebles, a team who had never beaten us until April 2001, but a side we have now failed to beat in our last four encounters.
Sat 12th Oct Jed-Forest 17 - 22 BoroughmuirJed came agonizingly close to taking unbeaten league leaders Boroughmuir at a wet Riverside Park on Saturday. With extremely damp conditions there was always going to be mistakes but it looked as though Jed were in for a torrid time when Boroughmuir crossed for an early try when play was switched back to the blind side where their hooker benefited from an overlap to give them a 5-0 lead. Jed then rallied from a surprisingly lethargic start to a home game to dominate the next 25 minutes during which time Gary McGarva slotted 3 out of 4 penalty attempts and Daniel Yuill found space up the blind to beat several defenders before using the wet surface to slide in at the corner, the difficult conversion missed to leave Jed 14-5 ahead and totally in command, but Boroughmuir struck back and only some desperate covering limited them to a penalty before the break to keep in front 14-8. The second half was about half way through before there was any scoring but it was Boroughmuir who managed the crucial next score when their centre broke through some pretty ordinary Jed defence to score under the posts putting Boroughmuir in the lead for the first time 15-14. Jed then went on the attack and were eventually rewarded with a penalty from McGarva to reclaim the lead 17-15. Then Boroughmuir produced the crucial score when Jed were unable to secure a line out close in their stand off was able to nip round the blind side for another soft score which was crucially converted from the touchline to put them ahead 22-17 with about 10 minutes to go. Again Jed took the game to Boroughmuir and a long range penalty from McGarva fell just short, then in injury time Jed kicked a penalty into the corner and went for the lineout drive, the Jed pack drove over the try line but the ref was unsighted and gave Jed the scrum, again Jed drove close from the back row move but from the next ruck the ref ruled a knock on by Jed when a Boroughmuir hand had illegally played the ball allowing the visitors to clear to touch and claim a victory they scarcely deserved - and they knew it. Another unlucky result for Jed but it leaves us in tricky but not unknown position in the League with some critical games coming up against Stirling and Peebles , both of whom are currently below us, and hopefully it will stay that way. A special mention must go to Mark Lee for a tremendously gutsy performance from the Jed skipper who was well supported by his back row colleagues.
Sat 5th Oct Hawick 29 - 21 Jed-ForestJeds winning run came to a disappointing end on Saturday when they visited defending champions Hawick and went down by 29 -21 with Kevin Amos grabbing all Jeds points although he would still be disappointed not to have scored more, missing the target with 3 penalties and a conversion. Hawick started the livelier of the two sides and scored a well executed try when they switched play to the blind side to find Jed short of cover. A penalty for Stenhouse had extended the lead before Jed hut back with some fine handling that allowed Amos to cut through the defence to score a try which he converted to bring Jed into the game. Hawick responded immediately and went further ahead with a try and 2 penalties to put them 19-7 ahead but Jed rallied before half time and were unlucky when Forster couldn't latch onto Lightbodys pass with the tryline beckoning but 2 Amos penalties pulled them closer after both Amos and Hill had tried unsuccessfully to land drop goals. Playing into the breeze in the second half the Jed pack finally got a grip of themselves and started to drive up the middle of the Hawick defence to good effect setting up good scoring chances, from a close range line out it looked set up for the Jed speciality forward drive but Borders pro Scott McLeod got up well to steal a crucial ball. It didn't take long though for Jed to find their next try when Amos finished off a great break from stand off Yuille. His conversion just missed to leave Hawick leading 19-18 and with the home team rattled Jed went looking for more. Try as the might they just couldn't get the crucial next score and when an Amos penalty just failed again Hawick managed to send a big clearance into the Jed half. Then Hawick got back on the attack and got another penalty to go ahead 22-18, straight away Hawick got Jed pinned back in their 22 and from a scrum Hawick backline produced a move which allowed their centre Douglas to cut through under the posts to seal the match. Jed were not done though and got a penalty which Amos slotted when going for the corner might have earned a bonus point, but it looked to have been a smart move when Jed were again awarded a penalty from about 35 metres out, but the Jed support watched in agony as the ball rebounded off the post and the deserved consolation bonus point was lost, giving Jed no reward for a fine second half performance but regretting a woeful first 40 minutes. Jed must get back on track against early season pacemakers and most pundits tip for the championship Boroughmuir when we hope to defend our unbeaten record at Riverside Park next Saturday.
Sat 28th Sept Jed-Forest 23 - 13 MelroseJed continue to improve with every performance and as with last week was a lot more comprehensive than the 23 -13 score-line suggests, the try count of 4-1 in Jed's favour gives a more realistic picture of how the match went. A surprisingly lackluster start from the home side saw Melrose make the early running which saw them take the lead through a Ruthven penalty. This brought Jed to life and they were awarded a couple of penalty chances, one of which Amos slotted to level the scores. Then after about 20 minutes Jed found top gear and blew Melrose away with some fine rugby. First to score was Davie Forster who forced his way over after a period of pressure in the Melrose 22. The second score was the pick of the day, with the forwards making good ground up the middle Gary Hill switched the ball back to the blind to Amos after a good call from Amos who had spotted the space to attack when the cover got across he flicked a reverse pass inside to Yuill who then fed back out to Scott Laidlaw who had looped outside to touch down for a fine score. With Melrose in a state of shock Jed didn't let them off the hook and a penalty to Jed saw Amos drill a nice kick into the corner to set up the line out drive which the forwards powered over with Ross Ford getting the score, unfortunately and unlike him Amos failed with all the conversion attempts. As the half grew to a close Jed slipped off the gas a bit and allowed Melrose into the game slightly without every threatening too much. The start of the second half was going to be crucial if Melrose were going to get back in the contest, they did manage a second penalty but Jed managed to get back on the attack and were awarded a penalty when Steven Shaw a replacement for Karl McBride who suffered a head knock was taken out in the air by Caldwell the Melrose winger, who received a yellow card for his troubles, unfortunately this was also the end of Shaws' brief match. This meant a reshuffle for Jed with Lee going on the wing and Liddle joining the forwards. It looked all set up for Liddle score when Amos kicked the penalty to the Melrose line, the first two attempts were thwarted illegally by Melrose but on the third attempt a poor throw from Beige gave Melrose the scrum put in, but determined to make amends a big scrum was called for and duly delivered as the drove them over their line giving the put in back to Jed. A back row move was called and Ross Goodfellow touched in corner at the crop to the delight of the Jed support, securing our first bonus point of the season in the process. At this stage Jed should probably have gone on to rattle up a good score but failed to take any more chances and inevitably with Melrose taking more risks at this stage they were rewarded with a try from replacement centre Ross Brown who found his way through some pretty ordinary defence to say the least. The conversion was added to make it 23-13 and you could sense the apprehension in the Jed support as they started to concede a lot of needless penalties often when they were in possession. Jed rallied and got back into Melrose territory and should have extended the lead but Hill missed an easy penalty chance. A scrappy period followed as Melrose desperately tried to run everything Jed pressure produced turnovers but more often than not followed them up with their own knock-on's or turnovers. Melrose produced one last attack which saw their big Samoan centre crash in at the corner but the score was disallowed for a foot in touch, and the final whistle sounded. The result moves Jed up to 5th in the table level with Melrose who are above us on a better points differential. Next Saturday is another Border derby when we travel to Hawick to take on the defending champions, another team who seem to be improving every week as their 34-28 away win at Heriots suggests. Hopefully there will be plenty Jed support up at Mansfield to shout us on.
Sat 21st Sept Jed-Forest 20 - 18 Aberdeen G.S.F.P.Jed put in a much improved performance on Saturday to overcome an Aberdeen side that had arrived in Jed expecting to win - how wrong they were. The scoreline suggests a tight game, but in fact Jed should probably have gone on to take a bonus point and win by 30 points given the chances they had but in true Jed style they leaked a couple of late tries and almost snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Jed started brightly with some good forward drives, with new prop Ward to the fore. They failed to score any points and Aberdeen cleared their lines after Jed were penalised, a pattern that was repeated for most of the game. In turn Aberdeen were awarded a penalty on their first visit to the Jed half, which was duly slotted. Amos then replied in kind for Jed to level the scores, and for all their efforts it looked as though it would remain that way until Mark Lee latched on to a Gary Hill break to give Jed an 8 - 3 lead as Amos missed the conversion. Jed's first half efforts had came at a price though as Ward had to leave the field with a knee injury and Hotson also spent 10 minutes in the sin bin for the second time this season. Jed made a great start to the second half when good pressure from the Jed back row allowed Yuill to intercept a stray pass in the Aberdeen 22 and touch down under the sticks to give Amos a simple conversion (unless your name is Townsend that is). Jed continued to take the game to Aberdeen but lost hooker Beige who succumbed to an ankle injury after going over on it for a third time. He was replaced in the front row by Ross Ford who the Borders are trying to make into a hooker this allowed the auld yin to come into the back row for the last 20 minutes. An Aberdeen penalty cut the gap to 15 - 6 before Jed's hard working captain Mark Lee burst through their defence for his second try of the day, Amos missed a relatively easy conversion (by his standards) that could have put Jed more than 2 scores up with only 10 minutes to play. The only concern at this stage was whether or not Jed could cash in on their dominance and gain a crucial bonus point, but then Aberdeen put in a few phases of play and with the aid of a few decisions in their favour their stand off raced in on the blind side from 40 metres when the touchline conversion went over a touch of apprehension could be felt around Riverside and it showed on the pitch. With only 5 minutes left Jed surely had it won but Aberdeen came back again to stretch the Jed cover only to find a hole in the opposite corner for their hooker to score, thankfully the conversion attempt failed, but there was still a couple of minutes injury time to go. The home support need not have worried though as Jed finished off the game attacking deep in Aberdeen territory. A great result to boost morale and hopefully keep our 100% home record when we face Melrose next Saturday. Some good individual performances this week and a definite improvement all round which we will be hoping to build on, but the penalty count was very worrying 18 - 6 against us when we seemed to dominate the game is something the team and the coaches will have to work on.
Sat 14th Sept Heriots F.P. 36 - 13 Jed-ForestHeriots were always going to be considered favourites for this match at Goldenacre but added to the fact it was glorious sunny day in the capital only added to their pre-match position as favourites. However it was Jed who opened the scoring after surviving a few early scares as Heriots tried to run the ball at every opportunity. From line out possession midway inside the Heriots half a fine miss pass from stand off Daniel Yuill put Amos into space and after stepping past two defenders did well to get over in the tackle before adding the conversion himself. Heriots replied immediately when Jed made a total hash off the restart and conceded an easy penalty from the next ruck deep in their own half. Then Heriots launched another of their many counter attacks and when the Heriots winger got past Scott Laidlaw in his own 22 they were away and fine support play saw them touch down and convert for a 10-7 lead. After about half an hour Heriots increased their lead when their centre waltzed through some pretty poor Jed defending to score as Heriots enjoyed a good period of pressure. Jed did hit back but Amos was unlucky with a couple of kicks to leave us trailing 17-7 at the break. Alistair Campbell was replaced at half time by Ewan Kelly after injuring his neck and Gary Hill was replaced by new kiwi back Karl McBride. Jed started the second half brightly and clawed back at the Heriots lead with some fine driving play which resulted in Amos slotting two penalties to reduce the deficit to 17-13. This was unfortunately to be the end of the Jed scoring as Heriots greater firepower saw them finish off some straightforward but well executed tries that cut through the Jed back line defence to stretch their lead to 29-13. Unlike the Hawks game two weeks ago the Jed side refused to give up and were hammering away at the Heriots line and should have had some scores if they had perhaps shown more composure. It was on one of Jed's final assaults that they conceded a penalty 10 metres from the Heriots line when they broke away to score a fifth try in the final move of the game. Plus points for Jed was the performance of Prop Jarrod Ward brother of Dave who played centre for us a couple of seasons ago. He showed up well in attack and defence and should go well when he is fully match fit. More worrying for Jed is where the tries are going to come from this season without Fitzgerald and Gill, our top scorers from last season. On Saturday it has to be said that Heriots looked more likely to score from 80 metres out than we did from 20, but it certainly was not for the lack of effort.
Sat 7th Sept Jed-Forest 16 - 12 CurrieJed registered their first win of the season in a scrappy encounter with Currie in a match that could have gone either way. The Jed side made most of the early running in the match, taking an early lead through an Amos penalty. Jed supporters thought the lead was doubled when Gary Hill struck a sweet 40 yard drop goal, but his effort was ruled out after the intervention of the linesman which resulted in Alan Dunnet being yellow carded for throwing a punch - he certainly couldn't deny it as he had to be replaced when he reappeared due to a broken hand ! The extra man allowed Currie to take control especially at the line outs and they closed the gap to 6 - 3 at the interval with Amos and Duncan trading penalties. In the second half another Duncan penalty leveled the scores but some concerted pressure from the Jed pack allowed scrum half Ross Goodfellow to power over from a rolling maul. Amos's conversion was to prove crucial as Currie hut back with two penalties when Jed were again down to 14 men when Hotson was sin binned following a line out. Jed were unlucky to have a try from Kiwi stand off Daniel Yuill ruled out for driving into the ref as he touched down , veteran flanker Liddle was keen to offer the ref some advice on where to position himself in future! Another Amos penalty looked to have done enough for the home side at 16 - 12 as they moved into injury time and as they pressed on the Currie line a turnover almost proved very costly as Currie charged into the Jed 22, only some desperate defence saved the day as Jed were reduced to 14 men for the third time in the match as Yuill was sin binned for handling in a ruck. Hopefully Jed can build on this much needed win but with a bit of an injury crisis for their line out men they may struggle at the line out at the moment. The arrival of another two Kiwi's should help bolster the squad and with Ross Ford set to return from injury hopefully we can get a settled side together.
Sat 31st Aug Glasgow Hawks 42 - 11 Jed-ForestJed made a poor start to life back in Premier 1 on Saturday with a total collapse in the last 10 minutes against a beatable Hawks side. Jed were given a quick reminder of just how tough it can be in the top division when they conceded a try in under 2 minutes after some fine handling and good support play from last seasons cup finalists. After a shaky start , the Jed side settled down and with their scrum on top and the lineout starting to produce ball, Gary McGarva struck a penalty to reduce the deficit. Unfortunately this was about the last of the action for McGarva who was then stretchered off with a nasty head wound. He was replaced by new Kiwi stand-off Daniel Yuille, who showed some nice touches on his competitive debut for Jed. Kevin Amos then put Jed ahead with another penalty and as the confidence grew Jed were beginning to make inroads deep into Hawks territory which eventually resulted in Alan Hotson scoring when play was moved wide. Jed were hut by a sucker punch right on half time when another sweeping Hawks move was stopped just short of the line, but a penalty was awarded and before the cover could get organized, Kenny Sinclair one of the 2 pro-players Hawks had on the day, pounced for a try from short range. Jed started the second half well but lost second row Neil Cook with a broken nose early on, however Hawks were reduced to 14 men when their hooker was yellow carded. Jed went on the attack but didn't quite have the composure to finish off a lot of promising opportunities. Then just on the hour mark James Henderson was sin binned for playing a ball that he, and most of the Jed side thought was out of the ruck. From the penalty Hawks regained the lead and never looked back with some hard running and good support play they were finding holes in the Jed cover all over the place. When Hendy returned Jed found themselves with 4 props in their pack for a spell, which was no match for the Hawks in this sort of form. They eventually ran in a total of 7 tries to 1, although McDonnell was unlucky to have a try chalked off for a foot in touch near the end. It was a stark reminder for the Jed lads of what can happen if you lose concentration and discipline at this level - although they competed well and another score after half time could have changed the whole complexion of the game.
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